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Introduction

The CESAR Team offers a set of ´'Space-Science Experiences´, unique experiences for students that come to ESAC. Enjoying a Space Science Experience is a cooperative effort between the school and the CESAR Team.

Credits: imgur.com

Listed below are the main phases required to be able to access to the CESAR Space Science Experience (SSE) provided by the CESAR Team:

Register

Teachers interested in this activity should request a Space Science Experience (SSE) through this link, for which previous registration is required. In case you do not receive an answer (within one week), please send us an email at: Project.Cesar@esa.int.

Choose your favorite Space Science Experience

Once registered, teachers can select the Space Science Experience they want. In the table below is a list of SSE topics suitable for a wide range of age groups (7 to 18 years old). Once the ´experience´ has been selected, the teacher must choose a date for the class´ visit to ESAC.

Each session has a duration of an hour and a half and takes place on Wednesdays and Thursdays, one at 9:45 A.M and the other at 11:45 A.M. The scientific cases are designed for a maximum of 55 students and 2 or 3 teachers. For more details please download the instructions here.

Start your Space Science Experience in the classroom

At school and together with their teacher, the students will watch a set of recommended videos provided by the CESAR Team. Some extra material (see table below) is recommended for teachers only. The reason for making this information available on the web is to allow to verify whether any of the concepts should be reviewed in advance before coming to ESAC. The CESAR Team considers the surprise factor at ESAC a key to learning process of the students. It is therefore not recommended to show them the ´Scientific Cases´ in advance.

Call us with Skype

The teacher can now choose between two dates for a Skype session with the CESAR Team coordinator, Dr. Michel Breitfellner. The duration of the Skype session is 15-20 minutes and the goal is to answer any questions the teacher may have about the Space Science Experience they have chosen (Skype account: Cesarprogramme@gmail.com).

Prepare your visit to ESAC

The school is responsible for coordinating the following:

the buses: children should come to ESAC by bus. Buses are required to arrive at ESAC 15 minutes before the beginning of the session (9:30 AM or 11:30 AM). Students and teachers should be picked up 15 minutes after the end of their session (11:30 AM or 13:30 AM), respectively.

writen authorisation from the students´ parents regarding pictures: teachers must give us the parents´ signed authorisation for pictures (in pdf format) they downloaded from the website.

groups & teams: in order to enjoy the experience as much as possible, the teachers are requested to have already organised the groups & teams that will work together at ESAC. The main group (of 55 students) should be divided into two groups (A and B) and within each of these groups, students should form teams of 5 or 6 people (mixed boy/girl groups are encouraged).

Be a scientist at ESAC

The students will be scientists for a day at ESAC. For an hour and a half they will form groups to “accomplish a mission” by answering several questions related to the exercise selected. At the end, a spokesperson for each group will summarise her/his group´s results to the other groups.

Your favorite Abstract

All the teams that came to ESAC will write an abstract (with a maximum of 400 words) explaining what they have learned and enjoyed the most during their ´Space Science Experience´. Their teachers will select the two best abstracts (one for group A and one for group B). If not already in English, the selected abstracts will need to be translated by the students. The abstract is necessary to participate in the SSE Tender. Abstracts should be received by the CESAR Team (via the website) within 2 weeks after the experience in ESAC.

SSE Contests & Prizes

Throughout the academic year, the CESAR Team will organize Space Science Experience Tenders, where the selected students abstracts will be analysed by a panel of experts elected by the CESAR Team.

Table 1: "Space-Science Experience" table offered by the CESAR Team with the specified material

(*) In the past all these requests were handled via email (Project.Cesar@esa.int). As we are continuously improving our process to offer the best quality we have still have not widely opened the registration. An email was sent to all the schools that made a request for a ´Space Science Experience´ in December 2016 explaining the complete process. We are just starting the engines and we are waiting for your requests through this web. Welcome onboard to all of you !!